John Hines dies at 74

John Hines, longtime executive director of the Memorial Tournament and general manager of Muirfield Village Golf Club, died today on his 74th birthday, the tournament announced.

Hines joined Jack Nicklaus' Golden Bear Corp. in 1980 and helped manage the Memorial Tournament for more than 30 years as well as the 1987 Ryder Cup, 1992 U.S. Amateur and 1998 Solheim Cup, all of which were staged at Muirfield Village.

He later formed HNS Sports Group with Nicklaus' son, Steve, and Dan Sullivan. The company manages sporting events, including the annual Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship on the Web.com Tour and 2013 Presidents Cup.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

John Hines, longtime executive director of the Memorial Tournament and general manager of Muirfield Village Golf Club, died today on his 74th birthday, the tournament announced.

Hines joined Jack Nicklaus’ Golden Bear Corp. in 1980 and helped manage the Memorial Tournament for more than 30 years as well as the 1987 Ryder Cup, 1992 U.S. Amateur and 1998 Solheim Cup, all of which were staged at Muirfield Village.

He later formed HNS Sports Group with Nicklaus’ son, Steve, and Dan Sullivan. The company manages sporting events, including the annual Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship on the Web.com Tour and 2013 Presidents Cup.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

“We lost a truly great man today,” Jack Nicklaus said in a statement. “John Hines has been a close friend, as well as a business partner, for close to 40 years. We worked together at Muirfield Village and at The Bear’s Club. We worked together on the Memorial Tournament, as well as countless other golf tournaments. We collaborated on a thousand different things, and with every opportunity, John was very good at what he did.

“More than that, John was an amazing person, friend and family man. He was so dedicated to his wife Ellen and his children, and they all became close friends with Barbara and me and our entire family.

“John and I traveled the world together, and he was liked or loved everywhere he went. John had such an engaging way about him that he endeared himself to almost every person he met. We will miss his thick Boston accent — ‘Pahk the cah.’ We will miss all the fun times we had, the jokes we traded, and all the wonderful moments we shared. I will miss him. Barbara will miss him. We all will.”